Hey, look! I'm still alive! I know that it took me forever to update again (over four months), but I wanted to finish everything,…and then I edited everything. So there are a few new parts in some chapters, and the grammar/spelling should be mostly correct now. (I'll probably notice something in a little bit and it'll irk me to no end. There are just some things that I miss. My "Cheap is talk" line was classic. Yeah. Go me. FACEPALM) So now Remembering Rachel is finished. Shit…I've been working on it since December, so that's, what, almost a YEAR of hardcore writing. That's pretty insane. Overall, I'm very happy with it and it's my favorite thing that I've ever written. Sad to think that this fic gave me different perspectives of characters; I.E. Celes Chere. I never really liked her, but I liked writing for her in a non-LockexCeles way. Anyway. Here's the rest of the fic (with author's notes anyway!)

38. Bad News in South Figaro

Okay, go to South Figaro and see if I notice anything suspicious…Locke said to himself when the town of South Figaro popped into view. Edgar did warn him to be careful, for he wasn't exactly sure what the meaning of Gestahl's letter was. With all the attacks that were going on with other towns, Edgar was afraid that Gestahl was looking closely at Figaro to be the next target and didn't want to make a false move. Locke figured it would be in his safest interest to get in, find out some information, then get out of there as quickly as possible. Knowing he was around during Xane's arrest and now was a vital asset to the Returners, he was worried that there would be people after him. I'm sure they know that I can't leak out valuable information if I'm dead…

He bent over to tie the laces of his boots, and before he stood up, he wiped his hair out of his face and panned the town. He couldn't see any soldiers so he figured the town was currently safe. Of course, who knows how long that statement will remain correct…He tried to stay optimistic, but he found it impossible after everything that had happened. Rachel…Xane…Damn those Imperial bastards….

With an exhale, he entered the town and tried to stay as calm and relaxed as he could. It was his first time in South Figaro, so he didn't know his way around and it made him even more nervous than he already was. He weaved between buildings and observed the actions of the villagers as he passed them. Thankfully, everyone was walking around doing their daily chores and not doing anything out of the ordinary. He even cracked a smile when he saw a mother scolding her several children. See, Locke? Everything is fine here! He thought to himself with a sigh of relief.He noticed a café sign over one of the doors and started to make his way closer. Hmm, a café. That's a good spot to overhear information. People have a tendency to gossip when they're drunk and not care how loud they're speaking…

The second he opened the door, the obnoxiously loud music washed through his ears. He grimaced at the volume and looked around. He was disappointed that the place was nearly empty except for an older man who was shamelessly flirting with a waitress and several men sitting at the bar.

"Hey, honey," a scantily clad waitress cooed to Locke, flirtatiously draping her arms over his chest. "What can I get 'cha? Are you looking for anything special? Or are you just looking for someone to show you a good time?"

"Oh, um, I'm fine," he said, stuttering as the girl moved her fingers up to his face. She batted her eyes, causing him to quickly look away from her and politely shrug her off of him. "Excuse me."

Trying not to cringe from the attention, he made his way up to the bar. The bartender was wiping down the counter with a rag and gave him a warm smile as he approached.

"Good afternoon," he said, greeting Locke as he motioned to the bar stools in front of him. "Have a seat and make yourself at home! What can I get for you?"

"I actually would just like a little info," he explained as he sat down on one of the stools. The bartender wiped his hands with the towel and raised an eyebrow.

"Information on what? Our specials?" By the sound in his voice, he was clearly confused to what Locke meant. "Well, we're a small town but it's said that we have the best brewed beer on—"

"No, no, nothing like that," Locke interrupted with a wave of his hand. The confused look remained on the bartender's face, so Locke folded his hands in front of himself and smiled. "It's just that, well, I'm kind of new to this town and I was wondering if the same rumors that were flying around my home town were also being said here."

The bartender's smile started to fade as he put the towel down, rested his hands on the bar, and said, "Every town has its rumors, sir. Where exactly are you from, anyway?"

"Kohlingen," he replied quietly.

"Wasn't there a huge attack on Kohlingen just a few weeks ago?" Even though Locke knew that the man was going to bring that up, his heart still felt as if someone jabbed a dagger through it. "Damn, it's a miracle you're alive. I heard the town is in pretty bad shape."

"Yeah, it is, but we're starting to drift away from the topic," he said quickly, nervously fixing his bandana. "I heard that some of the world's greatest scholars were disappearing from their hometowns. Have you heard anything about that?"

"Hmm, nothing like that around here," the bartender said with a shrug and reached for the towel again. "However, we're only serving paying customers. Therefore, if you're not going to buy anything, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Understandable," Locke said as he stood up and stretched. "Thank you though."

"However," the bartender said, grabbing Locke by the arm and motioning with a finger for him to lean in closer. His eyes darted around the room for a second then whispered, "A ship pulled into the docks today, and it looked like an Imperial ship. I'm not sure if anyone extremely important was on board, so you might want to ask some people around the dock. Maybe they know something about your scholars and could help you out. I didn't tell you this though."

Locke nodded then whispered back, "Thanks." The bartender began wiping down the counter again as Locke turned on his heel and began to walk out of the café. Hmm, he mentioned the Imperial army in that sentence…does he think that they're involved? Before he was able to elaborate on his thoughts some more, he heard footsteps running toward him and a tiny female voice following.

"Hey, wait a second!"

Locke turned around to see the waitress that greeted him earlier run toward him. He looked around, and when he faced her again, pointed to himself. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yeah," she said, slightly panting as she caught up to him. "Look, I'm sorry that I was eavesdropping on the conversation you were having with my boss, but I wanted to tell you that I have heard the rumor too. You know, how scholars have been mysteriously disappearing."

"You have?" His eyes went wide and the girl sadly nodded her head. "Oh wow. How have you heard of this?"

"Because my father was this town's greatest scholar," she explained, biting her lip as she looked at the ground. "What happened to him probably happened to other scholars. That's why I had to get this job at this run down café. I hate it here, but I have to help my mother out with bills and such."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He wasn't sure what to say, but his response didn't feel sincere enough to him. "If you don't want to talk about what happened to your father, I'll understand."

"If I recall, I'm the one who ran out here after you. I really don't mind talking about it," she said as she looked up. "It's not like he was murdered or taken against his will. He completely volunteered to go."

"Oh?" Locke questioned, trying to get more information out of her. "Then, do you mind me asking what happened?"

She took a few steps closer to him and nodded her head. "For the last few weeks or so, Imperial ships have been coming to our dock. It's hard to keep an eye on them when I'm constantly at work, but they usually get into town when I go into work, then leave at around the time my shift is over. That's a good eight or nine hours of staying in town. I'm not sure what they do here, but I know that they're not here to shop. That would be a humane thing to do."

Locke gently grabbed his lower lip and looked off to the side in thought. Looking at her out of the corner of his eyes, he said, "So what you're trying to say is that you believe the Empire is involved with the disappearances?"

"I don't think they are, I know they are," she replied with a slight huff. "Even though I'm not sure what they're up to now, they came to our house not long ago to speak with my father. I listened to their conversation and I must say, I'm appalled at my father's decision." She blushed and let out an embarrassed giggle. "As you can see, I have a tendency to eavesdrop."

"Go on," Locke urged with a motion of his fingers.

She nodded and continued. "I didn't really understand why they wanted my father's skills. To be honest with you, I still don't completely understand. The soldiers just told him that scholars from all over were going to Vector to 'find the potential of their skills and make something of themselves.' They mentioned Jidoor, Albrook, Thamasa, and I think Narshe."

Locke furrowed his forehead in thought. "Hmm, that's odd. Those towns don't seem to have anything in common. They're not even on the same continent. Are you sure those were the only towns?"

"Yeah, I remembered what towns they were because I tried to think of similarities between them, but I couldn't find any," she added with a shrug. "Anyway, mixed in their multi hour conversation, the soldiers mentioned something about extensive research on some old rocks or something." She tapped her lip with her finger and looked up at the sky in thought. "Now, what were they called?"

Locke inhaled sharply at her sentence, then furrowed his forehead as he squeaked out, "Espers?"

"Yes!" The girl snapped her fingers and smiled at him. "That's what it was!"

"Fantastic," Locke drawled, putting his hand to his forehead then rubbing his face. He looked between his fingers and saw her confused look, so he put his hand back down by his side. "I'm sorry, please continue."

"My father first turned them down, but when they offered to pay him triple his yearly salary, he changed his mind in an instant. He, um, packed up and left with them that very day." She looked up at Locke and exhaled. "That's what happened here, so I'm assuming that the Empire did that to the other towns as well. More people know about it than you'd think, but they just want to keep it quiet. It's basically a shame to this town that my father was persuaded with money so easily. He's usually not like that, but…oh well."

"Money has the power to do that to people," Locke admitted with a smirk. "I'm sure you're right though. I bet that's exactly what happened to the other towns."

"I wish I could tell you more, but unfortunately, that's all I know," she said as Locke nodded at her. "I just hope I was somewhat helpful to you and answered some of your questions."

"You helped me out a lot, thanks," he said as the girl continued to blush. "Oh, one more thing. I do want to make a stop at the item shop before I go though. Where would that be?"

"Oh, um, it's on the eastern side of town," she explained, pointing with her index finger. "The town's layout is kind of strange, so you have to go north first, then go south. When you hit the water, go east and you'll find some stairs. You can't miss them!"

"Thanks again," he said as he started to follow her directions.

"Wait," she exclaimed, causing him to stop again.

"What is it?"

"I'm sorry for hitting on you." Locke smiled at her once again, causing her to look down at the ground and dig at the dirt with the toe of her shoe. "It's kind of in the job guidelines and it's embarrassing."

"Not a problem," he said with a chuckle. "Take care."

"You too!"

He watched the young girl hop back into the café then overheard several gruff voices walking behind him. He turned on his heel and saw several soldiers walking toward the dock area, much like bees around their hive. Curious to what was going on, he decided that the item shop could wait and stealthily made his way closer to where the soldiers were, remaining unseen.

"And you're sure all this information is accurate?"

By the tone in the voice, Locke assumed that he overheard something important, so he hid behind a house. He slowly peered around the wall to see an elegantly dressed man talking to two Imperial soldiers. One soldier looked as though he had higher rank, so Locke presumed he was a commander of some sort. The man they were talking to cautiously looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then turned back toward the soldiers. What's this we have here? Locke thought with a smirk and a quiet chuckle.

"Yes, I'm positive," the elegantly dressed man said with a huff. Locke narrowed his eyes and continued to listen. "There is no reason why I would lie to you about this information. Heh, especially at a price like this."

"You know how important the girl is to the Empire, so if we find out you're lying…" The commander's hand reached out toward the man's shirt collar and gripped tightly. Locke could see the man tremble and he wished he had heard the conversation from the beginning.

"I'm doing it for the benefit of the people of Figaro," the man continued to explain, his voice wavering. "If that…magitek riding girl is on the loose, I don't want people in this town harmed."

The lesser ranked soldier let out a harrumph as the commander released his grip on the man. "What makes you believe she's at the castle?"

Locke's eyes widened as the man said with a chuckle, "Have you ever met King Edgar? Beautiful women flock to him. He's suave, charming, young, handsome, and not to mention rich. Girls line up outside the door to work at his feet. Trust me when I say that she'll be there."

"Dammit…"Locke cursed under his breath, putting his hand over his mouth. He's trying to set up Edgar!

"And if she's not?" The commander asked, taking another step toward the man. Locke watched as the rich man's gaze went to the commander's hand, which tightly grasped the hilt of his sword, as if he was ready to lunge out and attack.

"And if she's not, well…" He nervously trailed off to think of an alternate plan. After a few seconds, he slyly looked at the men and tilted his head. "You can set up your troops here in South Figaro if she's not at the castle. How's that? That way, you can catch her if she tries to pass through here. She'll be bound to stop here if she walks through those caves without stopping at Figaro Castle first. If things go according to plan, you'll get her back and the people of this town remain safe. I heard what she did in Maranda, and I don't want her to do the same thing to South Figaro. I'm sure I'm not the only person here who thinks this way, so it's a win-win situation if you ask me."

"No one asked for your opinion," the soldier snapped. He looked up as his commander put his hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "Sir?"

"Here's what we'll do," the commander began to explain as he moved his hand from his henchman to rub his chin in thought. "We haven't any other leads, and you know Kefka will be pissed if we return to Vector without any ideas on where his precious magic user is. Therefore, we'll listen to you. As soon as Gestahl hears of our plans, I'm sure he'll send Kefka to check out Figaro Castle."

"What about my money?" The man asked, holding out his hand as a hint. With a chuckle, the commander reached into his arm for some gold pieces. The man made a face as he quickly counted what the commander gave him. "You insult me. You promised a hell of a lot more than five hundred."

"Consider this a down deposit," the commander explained. "We don't have the girl in our hands yet, so you can't have the promised amount until we do. Besides, you're the richest man in town. I'm sure you can wait a while."

With a sigh, the man nodded. "Very well. I better return to before my absence is noticed. You won't tell anyone that I was the one who gave you the information, right? I'm a very respectable man here in South Figaro and I'd never want to be looked down upon."

"You're betraying your king for money you don't need. What's worse than that?" The rich man looked down at his feet at the soldier's sentence and blushed considerably.

"Nevertheless, your secret is safe with us," the commander confirmed, patting the rich man on the back. With a nod, the man looked around a final time then walked back into town.

"What a fucking idiot," the soldier said once the rich man was out of earshot, causing the commander to chuckle. "He just gave Gestahl a reason to invade not only South Figaro, but the castle as well. Kefka's wanted to investigate King Edgar for quite some time, and now there's nothing stopping him."

"C'mon, let's go back to Vector. I'm sure Gestahl will be pleased to hear our wonderful news," the commander said, leading his soldier up the dock and onto the ship.

Blinking his eyes several times, Locke tried to comprehend everything that just happened. Kefka's magic user? Magitek riding girl? Is this the same girl that Xane and his sister were talking about that day in Jidoor? Is she…missing? What the hell's going on? After a few minutes of resting the back of his head against the brick house in shock, he exhaled and whispered, "Shit, I gotta tell Edgar."